Pier Pressure
} |name = Pier Pressure |act = 1 |image = Leech.png |px = 270px |icon = Quest icon DA2.png |caption = The Blood Mage, Leech |start = The Docks (night) |end = The Hanged Man (night) |prereqs = |location = The Docks (night) |rewards = 2 and 500 XP |previous = |next = |appearances = Dragon Age II }} Pier Pressure is an Act 1 Gangs side quest in Dragon Age II. Acquisition The Redwater Teeth are trying to take over the Docks at night. Killing the majority of them will reveal the location of their hideout and leader. Walkthrough Enter the "Warehouse" in the Warehouse District of the Docks at night and defeat the gang and its leader, Leech. Afterwards, return to The Hanged Man at night and speak to A Friend for a reward. Strategy Leech is a blood mage, with an AoE spell similar to Hemorrhage. This can easily wipe out a few members of Hawke's party if they are standing in it, so he should be the first target without exception. Varric's Pinning Shot is the most immediate way to subdue him and provide time for your other units to run up the ramp and target him effectively. Alternatively, moving as a group without attacking him tends to draw him down the ramp, making it easier for party members in the back of the formation to target him, as he can sometimes resist the effects of Pinning Shot. Maintaining stun until his death shouldn't be difficult, as he lacks the resilience of similarly-lethal assassins and rogues. If you bring the fight against the remaining enemies to the room behind where Leech is stationed, you should be able to drop out of combat and recover when they're defeated, allowing you to take out the others who will spawn on the east side of the map, led by a reaver. Two Critter-ranked archers will spawn in via this northwestern room, but they should be easy to deal with. Three reinforcements will appear at the warehouse entrance after enough of the second group are killed, so moving the party to the eastmost room before killing too many of them should prevent them from joining the fight until you are ready to deal with them. An alternative way to deal with Leech is to hold position in the back corner of the foyer, then send one person to open the door and initiate combat. Click the door again to close it (on consoles use the reticle in the middle of the radial wheel), then return to the group. Leech shouldn't attack until he and a couple others have come downstairs and opened the door to get a visual on your party, at which point you can unleash the entire party's wrath on him without exposing them to so many of his cohorts. AoEs, stun, and slowing effects from cold spells should keep him from doing too much damage. With Leech dead, it should be much easier to relocate to the northwestern room and pick up the rest of the strategy from there. Result Hawke can now walk around the Docks at night without being ambushed by thugs. Rewards * Footpad's Secret (dropped by Leech) * Random loot * 2 * 500 XP Notes * A Friend only appears at night, in the back room of The Hanged Man. She will continue to give out rewards each time the player clears out a band of thugs in the subsequent side quests. * Like all nighttime gang quests, several waves of enemies will not appear until Hawke leaves the area and then returns. Also like all other such quests, the hideout location will be revealed even if 1-2 groups of gang members have not been cleared (so as not to be rendered impossible to complete if another quest NPC is curretly blocking a group from spawning in a specific location). Trivia * The quest name Pier Pressure is a play on words of the common phrase peer pressure. * The thugs are generically named Redwater Raiders. * The description of the quest in the completed quests journal contains an amusing 'fact' about the Redwater Teeth. See also * Sharp Little Pinpricks * Night Lies Category:Dragon Age II side quests